Playing-cards



R. F. THOMAS.

PLAYING CARDS.

A P P L l C A T l 0 N F l L E D F E B 2 1 9 2 0.

1,361,202, Patented Dec 7,1920.

REGO F. THOMAS, .OF TOMPKINSVILLE, NEW YORK.

PLAYING-CARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. *7, 1920.

Application filed February 2, 1920. Serial No. 355,883.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Rnoo F. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tompkinsville, in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Playing-Cards, of which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains to a deck or pack of the well known playing cards bearing conventional characters and divided into four suits, to-wit: spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds. In the use of these cards, in some games, the acks of corresponding color become a right bower and a left bower, respectively, and the suits are then deprived of these cares as jacks or as of ordinary jack value.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a deck or pack of the playing cards with two additional cards to be used exclusively as right bower and left bower respectively and to thereby allow all the jacks in the suits to retain their customary jack-value or their value as ordinary jacks; in this way the several suits are not deprived of the cards which have commonly been used as bowers and consequently are left cornplete. The object of my invention is there fore to provide a deck or pack of cards in which the suits are always complete, the cards for right bower and left bower being cards added to the deck and used as bowers regardless of the color of the trumps.

The invention will be further understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, with reference to the accompany ing drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a pack or deck of cards, shown as partly spread open, embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a face view of one of the additional cards provided by me and which is lettered to indicate that the card is the left bower, and

Fig. 3 is a corresponding view of the other additional card provided by me and which is lettered to denote that the card is the right bower.

In the drawings, 10 designates a pack or deck of playing cards which, except as concerns my invention, are of customary character embodying the known suits of spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds, as usual, and in this instance said pack or deck contains, shufiled among the other cards, two special added cards 11 and 12, respectively, shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. The several cards of the pack, except cards 11 and 12, require, by reason oftheir antiquity, no special description and may be recognized by the pips or spots thereon. 7

Cards 11 and 12 are additional to the pack of cards and do not deprive the suits of any of their cards, and these cards l1, 12 may have any suitable distinguishing characters thereon representing their value in the games to be played as bowers or left bower and right bower respectively. F or convenience the card 11 may bear the letter L denoting left bower and the card 12 the letter R denoting right bower The cards l1, l2 serve as substitute bowers for the jacks or other cards commonly used as bowers and their presence leaves said jacks or said other cards in the suits to be played as of their face value, all of the suits thus being left complete and the cards l1, 12 serving at all times as of bower value regardless of the trump color.

The purpose of my invention is, therefore, to provide a deck or pack of cards containing the usual. suits with two additional cards of bower value and to be used as bowers and as means for leaving all the cards of the several suits in the pack to be played as of their usualface value. I regard my invention as improving the usual deck of playing cards and increasing the pleasure to be had in the playing of the same.

Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A pack of playing cards consisting of the usual suits and two additional cards of bower value and bearing characters denoting them as left bower and right bower respectively, as described.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 27th day of January, A. D. 1920.

REGO r. THOMAS. 

